Chicago!
Last weekend I travelled with Stacy to Chicago for her business conference. While she was in morning seminars, I explored the city. I would get breakfast, sit in the park and listen to music, walk to the museums and enjoy people watching. One morning I went on a 5-mile run down Lake-Shore path.
We also took an architecture tour on the river and explored Millennium Mile, the shopping district. We had a great time!
We also had a bast watching grammy-winning harmonica player, Sugar Blue, at Buddy Guy’s Blues Club.
Breakfast #1,2 and 3: Protein Bar
I loved the Protein Bar! Just look at the menu. This is one of those places where you just stand and stare at the menu because there are so many delicious-sounding options. Quinoa, steel-cut oats, eggs, greek yogurt…AHHH-MAZING! I had the steel-cut oats with protein powder, soy milk and fruit one morning and quinoa with soy milk and fruit the next morning. I got green juice both days. I stayed full all morning! I wish we had a Protein Bar in Texas, but I don’t think the name would suffice here.
Check out this article about the owner.
As foodies, we found the hot spots in Chi-town for dinner…
Dinner #1: Custom House Taverns
Custom House was an uppity grill house that prided themselves on their steaks. Needless to say I was a bit skeptical when all the salads had calf’s head, tongue or fish on them. I was alarmed because salads are typically a “safe-zone” for vegetarians. However, I was lucky to find the winner of all vegetable plates. It wasn’t just some roasted vegetables piled on a plate, but lentils with the perfect tomato topping, oyster mushrooms with a perfectly-paired sweet sauce, asparagus, and greens that were perfectly married with caramelized turnips.
Even though my initial glance at the menu gave me a fright, I throughly enjoyed the meal.
Dinner #2: Le Colonial
Le Colonial was a warm and inviting French-Vietnamese restaurant. Upon sitting, I was handed a vegetarian menu complete with appetizers, main courses and vegan deserts. We were also given a complimentary appetizer because my menu had gum on it. The peanut sauce was good, but the rolls were nothing to get worked-up over.
I ordered the Tau Hu Cari or lightly fried tofu with eggplant, asparagus, mango, yams, & cashew nuts in yellow coconut curry sauce. I ate every bite and would definitely order it again.
We definitely enjoyed our experience here (and the couple next to us that had had a few too many drinks).
Dinner #3: Karen’s on Green
Karen’s is a haven for vegans. Normally, I direct my gaze to the ‘salad’ portion of the menu for lack of other options. Well, my friends, you have options here! The whole menu is your oyster! They even denoted soy free, gluten free and nut free. We ordered the raw crackers and homemade sunflower seed hummus. The crackers were good, but the hummus was a tad too thick. Our crackers broke in half each time we used them to scoop the hummus.
Stacy ordered the “Chicken Legs” with sweet potato hash, swiss chard and barbeque sauce. It was very tasty, but I was a little disappointed to see faux meat options because the majority of people dining there are vegan for a reason…no animals. Which brings me to another point…on the flat screen behind the bar was a National Geographic video of a wolf chasing and eating other animals. It was slightly off-putting in a vegan restaurant.
I ordered the raw pasta with cashew creme sauce. I’ve made this at home and wanted to see how it differed. Theirs was great, but I like the cheesy flavor from the nutritional yeast that I add to mine. It was very good though and the wait staff was very friendly and tentative.
For dessert we ordered the cheese cake. It was delectable! Don’t mind our theology lesson in the background….
We were in and out of the city in 3 days, but I had a blast! Chicago – I will be seeing you again.
Have you been to Chicago? If so, do you have a favorite restaurant?
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